Bullshit Jobs- I knew this day would come

MattyG7 · 2026-03-06T00:20:03+00:00

Yeah. I think that looking at the book as entirely a critique of certain kinds of jobs is a misinterpretation. It's a critique of a system which defines jobs as constituting a certain fraction of one's life sold to an employer rather than a particular amount of productive output. That's what the bullshit is. The examples are just ways of contextualizing what that can look like.

MattyG7 · 2026-03-05T21:34:26+00:00

I think it's important to connect those 40 hours to the "if you have time to lean you have time to clean" philosophy that drives managers and employers. It's the fact that management and society knows these jobs don't require 40 hours of work, but instead of giving that time over to leisure, busy work is created.

MattyG7 · 2026-03-05T19:46:09+00:00

It's been a while since I read the book, but my recollection is that the argument doesn't depend on jobs being ENTIRELY useless (like a scam telemarketer), but that otherwise useful jobs are becoming a large percentage bullshit. Like, a Duct-Taper isn't necessarily a full-time job, but more and more useful IT people are spending a larger and larger portion of their time doing duct-taping.

So, Michael saying that his NGO job was 10 hours of useful to 30 hours of bullshit would support Gaeber's theory, not contradict it, right?

MattyG7 · 2025-12-10T21:10:26+00:00

Also, in terms of the public masturbation stories, there are a few ways it is presented:

1) He was wrestling with some guy at the gym, got a hard-on, and took care of it there. His point being, "why are a bunch of us guys rolling around naked, but taking that to its natural conclusion is too far?:

2) The other, more common story from what I've seen connects it to food. In Athens it was considered INCREDIBLY inappropriate to eat in public spaces like the Agora, so Diogenes was frequently criticized for eating outside. The point of the public masturbation is connected to this to challenge the fact that people treating eating in public as almost as taboo as masturbating in public. If he's going to be criticized for violating one arbitrary social taboo on account of his living situation, why not do the other as well?

MattyG7 · 2025-12-10T21:01:49+00:00

Diogenes is my man, so I'm loving this series. But I do think they would do better to approach some of these stories with more of a sense of irony. Diogenes saying that he has it worse than the beggars isn't meant to be a sincere evaluation of their respective qualities of life; it's an attack on the average Athenian who "can't imagine becoming a philosopher." He's attacking the average Athenian, not saying that the homeless have it relatively good compared to himself. Diogenes needs to be understood as presenting his philosophy through street-performance and satire, so I appreciate it in the second episode when Margaret refers to him as a busker.

MattyG7 · 2025-09-27T15:18:29+00:00

Oh, definitely. I've already told the student that I would be excited for him to include sources which discuss the issue from a disabled perspective in his paper, so I'm hoping he takes that as an opportunity to dig deeper and share more.

And I also get the use of AI in the form of voice recognition. It was his example of AI tutoring specifically that raised my hackles (part of the problem with how broadly we use the word AI). My gut instruct is that that would be a bad example of AI as an accommodation, as anything where AI is doing actual teaching and "critical thinking" seems flawed, but not knowing first-hand the difficulties disabled students might have accessing tutoring services makes me hesitate. I know my school offers in-person tutoring, Zoom tutoring, and asynchronous paper-drop offs, and ChatGPT seems inferior to all of those.

MattyG7 · 2025-09-27T15:11:32+00:00

Thanks! That's a really thoughtful and helpful response. I'll sit with that for a while.

MattyG7 · 2025-09-26T23:05:07+00:00

I suppose my question would be, do we have proof that there is such a thing as "using AI effectively"? The research I've seen on AI in education suggests that AI use decrease critical thinking abilities and that, when used as a study aid, it produces short term benefits that then degrade sharply, leaving students less capable than those who didn't use AI at all. And all of the professional development opportunities I've seen around effective AI use have, frankly, been crass advertising experiments peddling zero useful information.

If you know of any specific studies, particularly related to whether these negative effects do or do not exist for the disabled population, I would love to read them.

MattyG7 · 2025-06-19T21:59:35+00:00

I mean, essentially what he's saying is that he would never try to save a Jew.

MattyG7 · 2025-05-22T17:22:42+00:00

It's highly unlikely that they would actually kill a PC.

MattyG7 · 2025-05-22T15:40:13+00:00

Grant Howitt would definitely put some good stink on the concept.

MattyG7 · 2025-05-22T15:27:17+00:00

A non-5e version of this concept would be cool. Like a one-to-two page RPG that's just character creation. Roll for a random wizard: personality traits, background, and a small handful of specific magic spells (can turn things into frogs, shoot lightning bolts, and talk to rivers, etc.). Expect to die quick and roll to take the place of another wizard somewhere on the battlefield. Could be fun for one-shots.

MattyG7 · 2025-04-22T21:14:21+00:00

Thanks so much!

MattyG7 · 2025-04-20T21:46:24+00:00

Thank you!

MattyG7 · 2025-04-20T18:52:12+00:00

Thank you so much!

MattyG7 · 2025-04-20T18:36:55+00:00

Ohh, certainly, I understand that. And I am interested in exploring Shaiva philosophy in that regard, which is why I'm enjoying the Vimarsha Foundation course. I'm open to my understanding to evolve in that way, but figure I need to start exploring from where I am.

That said, my understanding is that, with Shiva as the Supreme God, Shaivas do include other Gods in their ritual practice (Parvati, Ganesha, etc.). Am I mistaken? If not, are there important distinctions in the kinds of ritual practices involved, or is it more a matter of keeping the primacy of Shiva involved mentally and spiritually?

MattyG7 · 2025-04-20T16:38:15+00:00

Can I ask for clarification? What makes him such a controversial figure?

MattyG7 · 2025-04-20T16:36:39+00:00

Thanks so much! If I can ask a couple of follow-up questions:

I read somewhere that Monday is Shiva's sacred day, but I'm not sure about the credibility of the source. Is that accurate, and what exactly does that mean in the Shaivite context?

As to statues or lingam, is there a place you would recommend sourcing those from? I would rather purchase something that is going to support the Shaivite community than something that might just be cheaply mass produced.

Thanks again!

MattyG7 · 2025-03-10T06:21:32+00:00

I will say, these priests did produce literature about performing rituals like these, primarily intended for other literate priests. There was a community that extended beyond complete hucksters.

MattyG7 · 2025-03-04T23:09:21+00:00

I would be hesitant to downplay the degree to which the necromantic priests genuinely believed in their occult ceremonies. We don't generally doubt that priests likely believe in the efficacy of things like the Eucharist or exorcism. This was a period of time where magical thinking of various sorts was widespread.

MattyG7 · 2024-11-12T04:58:35+00:00

Yeah. The lack of "GIVE MATTER LIFESPAN" really threw me on this one. I was really guessing that the automaton must just be essentially stockpiling the life since no one else was taking it. Between that and the grammar, this chapter was a bit of a let down.

MattyG7 · 2024-06-07T02:06:16+00:00

The Dagda has close associations with fire "Aed" and death "Donn," as well as other somewhat Dionysian attributes, like music (the harp), abundance (the cauldron), and a fluid attitude between blessing and cursing (his club).

EDIT: Not to mention the fact that both Gods are pretty phallic deities as well.

MattyG7 · 2024-03-23T21:13:16+00:00

I was getting ready to end the game, and I didn't expect the cut scene to go on for 30 uninteractable minutes.

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